How to Green Your Recycling
by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 01.31.07
What’s the Big Deal?
Almost four decades ago, a US paper company wanted a symbol to communicate its products’ recycled content to customers. The design competition they held was won by Gary Anderson, a young graphic designer from the University of Southern California. His entry, based on the Mobius strip (a shape with only one side and no end) is now universally recognized as the symbol for recycling. To many people, recycling conjures up the blue plastic bins and bottle drives. But recycling is a design principal, a law of nature, a source of creativity, and a source of prosperity. For anyone looking to make recycling a more integral part of their lives, this guide is an overview of the basic legwork as well as some of the finer and more advanced concepts that have emerged in recent years.
"Recycling a ton of “waste” has twice the economic impact of burying it in the ground. In addition, recycling one additional ton of waste will pay $101 more in salaries and wages, produce $275 more in goods and services, and generate $135 more in sales than disposing of it in a landfill."
From Recycling: Good for the Economy, Good for the Environment
Guide Navigation
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1. First things first, a little R & R & R
The aphorism is so tired it almost might seem like “reduce, reuse, recycle” should go without saying. But in fact, most of us have only really heard the last third of the phrase, and they’re ranked in order of importance. Reducing the amount that we consume, and shifting our consumption to well-designed products and services, is the first step. Finding constructive uses for “waste” materials is next. And tossing it in the blue bin is last. (The garbage can is not on the list, for good reason.) Through a balance of these three principals you can easily see your landfill-destined waste dwindle fast. A good example of recycling is setting your empty water bottles in the bin on the curb. But by using a water filter and reusable container you can reduce or completely eliminate your need for disposable plastic bottles.
2. Know what you can and can't recycle
Read up on the recycling rules for your area and make sure you don't send anything in that can't be processed. Each city has its own specifics, so try to follow those guidelines as best you can.
3. Buy recycled
The essence of recycling is the cyclical movement of materials through the system, eliminating waste and the need to extract more virgin materials. Supporting recycling means feeding this loop by not only recycling, but also supporting recycled products. We can now find high recycled content in everything from printer paper to office chairs.
4. Encourage an artist
If you know someone interested in making art from recycled materials, offer to provide supplies. Many school children need items like paper towel tubes for art projects. Older artists use everything from rubber bands to oven doors. If you know someone who teaches art classes, suggest that an emphasis be put on making art from trash. While you're at it, remind them to use recycled paper and biodegradable, earth-friendly glues, paints, and pencils whenever possible. See below for inspiration and groups that connect artists and students with useful “trash.”
5. Recycle your water
If you're a homeowner, consider rearranging your plumbing so that rainwater or wastewater from your shower and tub is used to flush your toilet. If you have a garden, water it with leftover bathwater or dishwashing water (as long as you use a biodegradable soap). For more on water recycling see How to Green Your Water.
6. Recycle your greenery
William McDonough and Michael Braungart, authors of the groundbreaking Cradle to Cradle, envision so-called “waste” divided into two categories: technical nutrients and biological nutrients. Biological nutrients are those that, at the end of their useful life, can safely and readily decompose and return to the soil. Composting is one of the simplest and most effective recycling methods. Both your garden cuttings and your green kitchen waste can go into an outdoor or indoor composter (with or without entertaining a population of worms). If you don't have a garden yourself, find neighbors or a community garden that can make use of your soil. Composting food scraps will mean your regular kitchen wastebasket fills up more slowly and also won’t smell. Hotter, more active compost heaps can also consume tougher stuff like newspaper and paper napkins. After Christmas, many cities also have programs for turning your tree into mulch.
7. Recycle your robots
Electronics recycling is becoming more common in many urban areas, battery recycling is ubiquitous (rechargeable batteries are ecologically sounder, but even they wear out after a while), and there are a number of non-profit organizations that will take computer parts and turn them into working computers for others. Companies like Ebay have also developed programs to help your electronics find new homes. Other groups will gladly recycle your cell phone or give it to a senior citizen, as even without a contract it can still make emergency calls. If you have a major appliance that doesn't work and you'd rather replace it than try to fix it, offer it to local repair shops, trade schools, or hobbyists to tinker with. Many cities now offer hazardous waste recycling days when they will take not only hazardous waste, but electronics.
8. Anticipate recycling
In addition to buying recycled goods, keep a keen eye out for recyclable goods. Whenever you purchase something packaged, think about how you can reuse the packaging, return it to a shipping store for reuse, or try to otherwise recycle it. If you get something likely to run down or wear out over time, such as an electronic component, give preference to the model that can be easily upgraded or cannibalized for parts so that you don't have to junk the whole thing if one part breaks. Products that are impossibly fused together are often called “monstrous hybrids” and are, while often cheaper up front, frequently unfixable and unrecyclable.
9. If you don’t love something, let it go
Lots of charities welcome your donations. Groups like Freecycle and Recycler's Exchange exist to help you get rid of useful objects that you just don't want to make use of. If you're in a Craigslist city, make use of the "free stuff" section. Give away clothes that don't fit, the boxes you used in your last house move, or scented soaps that don't appeal to your sensibilities. Make it a rule in your house that nothing useable goes in the trash until you've given the community a fair shot at it.
10. Become a waste-stream analyst
To better understand the kind of materials that enter and leave your home, office, or school, consider conducting a waste audit. Set a span of time like a week or a month, and separate your waste categories. Weigh the different kinds of material flows that go out the door (landfill waste, organic compost, aluminum, recyclable plastic, reusable material, etc.). Design a “material recovery” program that minimizes the amount going to the landfill. This is a great exercise to do with kids but can be very convincing to corporate higher-ups, too, especially since most companies pay to have their trash hauled away and can get money for recycled paper, containers, toner cartridges, corrugated cardboard, and such.
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(Aluminum cans baled and ready for recycling)
1. Get creative with do-it-yourself projects that reuse everyday objects. Turn a bath tub into an armchair or a bicycle inner tube into a wallet.
2. Promote recycling at local businesses and schools.
3. If you're building or renovating a home, use reclaimed or recycled materials.
4. Promote Freecycle in your community if it does not already exist.
5. Make flea markets, thrift, and vintage stores part of your regular shopping routine.
6. Styrofoam peanuts, those non-biodegradable, everywhere-flying, petrol-based, little packaging devils can be brought back to most packaging stores for reuse as long as they’re clean and dry.
7. The concept of the Product Service System is gaining traction. Here is idea is explored.
(The Tide Chandelier by Stuart Haygarth is assembled mostly of plastic washed onto the shores of Kent)
544,000: trees saved if every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100% recycled ones.
20 million: tons of electronic waste thrown away each year. One ton of scrap from discarded computers contains more gold than can be produced from 17 tons of gold ore.
9 cubic yards: amount of landfill space saved by recycling one ton of cardboard.
$160 billion: the value of the global recycling industry that employs over 1.5 million people.
79 million tons: the amount of waste material diverted away from disposal in 2005 through recycling and composting… (EPA)
5%: the fraction of the energy it takes to recycle aluminum versus mining and refining new aluminum. (link)
315 kg: the amount of carbon dioxide not released into the atmosphere each time a metric ton of glass is used to create new glass products. (link)
98%: the percentage of glass bottles in Denmark that are refillable. 98% of those are returned by consumers for reuse. (link)
51.5%: the percentage of the paper consumed in the U.S. that was recovered for recycling in 2005. (link)
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1. What do those numbers on the bottom of my soda bottle mean, anyway? A key to the numerical system (resin identification code) can be found via Wikipedia. An alternate page can be found here.
2. William McDonough and Michael Braungart, authors of Cradle To Cradle, have recast the way we look at recycling, illustrating how most of what we do is actually “downcycling,” or just delaying time at which, for example, a plastic bottle will come to a halt in a landfill (cradle to grave). These two innovators outline a system in which things are truly re-cycled in virtually endless loops. More here.
3. The Waste Hierarchy is a useful metric for ranking the methods of material management.
4. Recycling isn’t all green and gold. For common criticisms of recycling, see this Wikipedia page.
5. 5. Reuse is the second cardinal rule of recycling, but make sure that what you’re doing is safe. Plastic waster, soda, and juice bottles and other plastic utensils aren’t made for multiple uses and can break down, releasing chemicals, especially in heat (like the dishwasher) and cold, (like the freezer).
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Q&A: Recycling Christmas Cards
Drap-Art is a Barcelona group devoted to the artistic reincarnation of materials. They host a yearly International Creative Recycling Festival.
TreeHugger passes on the advise of Salon.com on how to recycle your computer.
Crazy Crayons are remade from the stumps of their departed brethren.
TreeHugger responds to a reader who asks what she can do with her company’s obsolete CDs.
The Ecopod is a slick, integrated recycling receptacle and compactor.
Smallplanet is a Canadian company that makes recyclable baby diapers.
Swap-o-Rama-Rama is a concept that’s part swap meet, part crafts fair, part public art project.
“What Can We Do With Our Used Styrofoam?”
The brilliant (and sadly now defunct) groundscout.com provided a high-tech way for people to share knowledge of fabulous “garbage.”
Started by a groups of web designers in Vancouver, MaterialLove is a site for exchanging, selling, and giving away useful goods that may not fit in the recycle bin.
Two entrepreneurs in Philadelphia have devised a techie system that rewards people when they recycle.
How to recycle a jumbo jet (sort of).
The world’s richest self-made woman is a Chinese paper recycling entrepreneur.
The Product Service System explored.
Retrobox is a computer recycling service with a model that works.
Tennis balls are (quietly) reused by the millions in Japan.
Recycling for the 21st Century is a roundup of some of TreeHugger’s favorite (tasteful) recycled products.
The clothing company Patagonia has been a genuine pioneer in making high-performance garments from recycled materials, and has recently started recycling old garments into new ones.
Tattered library books become unique journals.
Recycled denim can become home insulation.
Discarded umbrellas become fabulous gowns that look amazing on the runway.
Denim Therapy gives new life to old jeans.
Cargabags are recycled wool bags from Argentina.
Good design makes old T-shirts into great bags or even underwear.
Freitag bags are made from recycled truck tarps.
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(recycled paper wall panels from Mio Design)
A Shopper's Guide to Home Tissue Products from the NRDC
The Adaptive Design Association
Cities & Green Living: Recycling
Dell Computer’s recycling page
Ebay’s Rethink program is an innovative way to put idle computers and other electronics in the hands of those who want them.
The EPA’s page on recycling and pollution prevention can be found here and their eCycling page is here.
The EPA has searchable databases of national and international material and waste exchanges.
Free Geek is a Portland, OR-based group that collects and “recycles used technology to provide computers, education, internet access and job skills training to those in need…”
The Frugal Shopper Recycling Tips
The National Recycling Coalition
Recycling Tips & Eco-Friendly Advice
The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
SCRIB-The Steel Can Recycling Information Bureau
Waste Online (U.K. facts and statistics about various types of trash)
Wikipedia’s recycling page also links to focused articles on specific materials.
Books
Garbage Land follows the trail of trash
Our PS2 is broken i was wondering where to recycle it.
Greendisk.com is a great place to recycle CDs, DVDs, PDAs, PCs, and all kinds of other electronic acronyms. :)
cellrecovery.net collects and recycles cell phones to help fund national environmental and humanitarian charities. A great way to get rid of old cell phones and do some good at the same time.
Great information on recycling with some excellent resources I hadn't stumbled across before. Recycling is often hitting the headlines in the UK at the moment with councils trying to increase recycling by introducing schemes such as fortnightly rubbish collections. It is good that people are taking more notice of the importance of recycling, but I wish more emphasis would be placed on reducing waste, rather than simply recycling.
This is a very educative page especially to Africa where sustainable waste management has not been given a thought. I am very much encouraged to keep on writing articles on the media trying to educate people on waste management. I have always wanted to start a waste recycling project and to start with I want to start making pencils from recycled newspapers. This is a new field here in Kenya and I would like ideas on how to start and where to get the machine. This will minimize defforestation which has been the case due to the rapid population increase thus many school children using pencils and paper; yet newspapers are all over. Can anyone help?
heyy!! u0m0mm00m..O..my celll phone broke where can i recycle this ?? OR ..,.can I? this is a great website!!
Hi, John the Composter here. I was looking around resources/info on composting and was suprised to find no mention of the most amazing book, a book which changed my life... The Humanure Handbook by Joe Jenkins. This is very informative and full of humour, and gives many reasons to compost your 'humanure', and gives us a simple compost toilet design, using sawdust.
I recommend this book highly for anybody wanting to reduce their water use and make good soil-enriching compost.
For the person with the sell phone look up at post 3
Love what you guys are promoting, mainly education and not an answer. Keep up the good work.